The United League (ULA)

Weakened by general bureaucratic corruption as well as the recent Betrayal and withdraw of, in total, almost a quarter of its constituent systems, the United League of Planets (ULP) is a huge powerhouse facing turbulent times against the significantly smaller but newly reformed and reinvigorated Antarean Empire.

The United League Army (ULA) and the United League Space Navy (ULSN) are the military branches featured in AFF. Lore wise, it is the "Zerg" nation, with a surplus of relatively untrained and undisciplined troops as well a hearty manufacturing front mass producing tons and tons of high-quality equipment.

"The League is a sprawling political entity covering many hundreds of inhabited worlds, and from each of these worlds it exacts taxes, natural resources and the manpower, to secure them as specified in the League charter. As with any superpower, the sheer size of the League means that, while planetary governments are responsible for providing their own security forces, rapid deployment of reserve forces to trouble-spots is always fairly slow. The debate over whether or not the League should provide for permanent garrison forces for each member world has been an issue of contention for decades. In addition, there are still many that wish to revert back to the system used for years directly following the Unification War, where all armed forces were consolidated under the central command of the League military.

As it stands, military forces of League members are contributed voluntarily, and supplement the standing League Army.

While conscription into the League Army is rare, in some of the further reaching systems, it is not unheard of. Individual system governments are provided only with a quota to fill, which is (ostensibly) tied to their population. Their method of meeting the quota, however, is not regulated.

Manpower is not in short supply for the League. Though volume of incoming personnel is large, the quality is low, mostly due to poor training programs on its member worlds. The overall downside of this process is that, while usually highly motivated, many USN divisions are inexperienced and fairly unreliable. Because the bulk of these personnel are often shipped out again to help garrison outback worlds, many initially fail to take any threat seriously.

However, the League's strength lies in its tremendous manufacturing base. While the troops themselves may be of average quality, the hardware that they are provided with is solid, reliable, and never in short supply. This has influenced the tactical approach of many League commanders who, given an impossible situation, usually resort simply to sheer firepower and weight of numbers to achieve objectives."

"Originally the brainchild of Yvette Edrasil, a Taurian diplomat, the ULP was unofficially established in 849 AE as a secret military alliance to counter the growing predations of the Antarean Star Empire whose new emperor, Lucan Andromedeus IV, was showing signs of continuing the expansionist campaign begun by his father, Lucan III. The alliance consisted of five stellar nations who either shared a common border with the ASE or recognized the threat it posed. The signatories included the Democratic Union of Fellbar (DUF), Republic of Cinnabar (RC), Taurian Confederation (TC), Kingdom of Mournecreek (KC) and the Polaris Concordat (PC).

Each nation pledged mutual defense for one another in the event of war with a foreign power, but this ostensibly referred to any hostile acts on the part of the ASE toward ULP member-states. While carefully shrouded in secrecy, this first alliance remained relatively untested for several years. As the ASE border seemed to be settling down, several members began to doubt the wisdom of being entangled in such an alliance, especially given the new trade opportunities beginning to materialize within Imperial space. Still fearing an imminent attack, the Republic of Cinnabar and the Kingdom of Mournecreek quietly built up their respective navies while the rest of their allies plotted new ways to reap the riches of an alliance with the ASE."